How To Grow Out Your Hair Colour (2024)

How To Grow Out Your Hair Colour (1)

If you’ve been thinking about growing out your natural hair colour for a while then you’re not the only one. Ditching the dye and going low maintenance is officially a hair trend and lazy girls everywhere are more than ready to embrace it. But before you get carried away and delete your stylist’s number you need to make it through the growing out stage first. It can be a bit of a time consuming process but we’ve got all the pro tips you need to make it happen.

Figure Out Your Natural Shade First

If you’ve been dyeing your hair for ages then you’ve probably forgotten what your natural shade even looks like. Giving your roots a few weeks to come through is the best way to see what you’re working with and give your hair a little break. Ideally you want a minimum of 2 cm growth before you take the next step so that you can see the shade properly. This sounds like a lot but if you’re struggling just pick up some root touch up spray to hide it for now.

You Need A Plan

Growing out your hair colour is a time consuming process that you really need to plan for in advance. The best way to transition is to keep it gradual by only making subtle changes to your shade over a period of months. That way you can skip any awkward stages and keep your hair looking healthy. It’s best to book a quick appointment with your stylist first and figure out all the options before deciding on your next step.

Go Back To Your Natural Colour

The easiest way to grow out your hair colour is to just dye the lengths back to your root shade. This sounds simple but it’ll depend on what you’ve used on your hair before as to how well it works. If you’ve had highlights or balayage then it’ll be difficult to get an even colour and you might be better off going for a root drag instead.

How To Grow Out Your Hair Colour (2)

The Root Drag

The easiest way to transition back to your natural colour is by blurring your root shade into the lengths of your hair so that it eventually looks like ombre or balayage. A root drag is perfect for this and will save you waiting for your hair to grow. It’s basically when your stylist combs dye in your natural shade down the lengths of your hair to give you a seamless transition. You can also opt for a glaze, rather than permanent colour as it’s way more gentle and perfect if your hair is damaged.

How To Grow Out Highlights

To grow out highlights ask your stylist to put some low lights in between the gaps to spread them out. If your root shade is a lot darker then this will really help to blend the harsh line and disguise your roots. After a few months it’ll just look like balayage and will be easy to maintain so you won’t have to worry about going back to the salon as much. You could also try getting babylights at your next appointment as they’re a lot thinner and easier to grow out.

If Your Roots Are Lighter

Obviously lighter roots and darker lengths are going to be more tricky and time consuming to grow out. Your best option will be to gradually lighten your hair with highlights to transition your darker lengths back to the root shade. This will take several trips to the salon but bleaching your hair all over can cause a lot of damage so it’s best to take your time.

How To Grow Out Your Hair Colour (3)

If You’ve Dyed Your Hair Black

Black is the hardest colour to remove so growing it out is a super lengthy process. Your stylist can do a bleach wash to gradually lighten your hair but you should only go a few shades lighter at a time to avoid any damage. Bleaching black hair back to blonde in one sitting is only going to leave you with banana yellow, straw-like strands and trust us, it’s not a good look. Your best bet is to be patient and take things slowly with this one.

If You’re Growing Out Pastel Colours / Bleach

Most pastel shades will fade over time so it’s just a waiting game until the colour wears off and then you can dye over the top of it. Once the colour has shifted you can use a mix of highlights and lowlights to cover any leftover pigment and to get a softer blend between your root shade. Bleached hair takes a while to absorb new colour so you might have to keep going back to the salon regularly in the first few months. It’s best to keep transitioning slightly darker each time until you reach your root shade rather than trying to dye it back in one sitting. You’ll also need to use masks regularly and avoid heat as much as possible as bleached hair is way more porous and prone to damage.

Embrace Your Hair Curlers

Growing out your hair colour isn’t going to be easy so you might want to embrace some hairstyles that will help to make the transition a little easier. Curling your hair will disguise roots way better than wearing it straight so it’s going to be your go-to look for the next few months. If you need to skip the heat then try braids instead as they’ll have the same effect without causing any damage.

How To Grow Out Your Hair Colour (2024)

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